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A Columbus fire battalion chief likely will be suspended for six weeks and demoted for his role
in the coverup of a sex scandal at a West Side fire station.

Battalion Chief Gerald C. Birkhimer did not follow the chain of command and ignored division
policy, allowing Firefighter Marc Cain to have an affair with a woman while on duty, Fire Chief
Gregory A. Paxton determined in departmental charges he signed on Friday.

Paxton found Birkhimer guilty of 21 violations, including dishonesty, insubordination and
neglect of duty. He recommended that Birkhimer receive a 240-hour suspension without pay and be
demoted to captain. The final decision rests with Mitchell J. Brown, the city’s public safety
director.

Paxton determined that Birkhimer knowingly violated policy by letting Cain’s mistress spend the
night at the station and ride on emergency vehicles without authorization. Birkhimer also was
disciplined for allowing his daughter to spend the night at the fire station.

Paxton recommended weeks ago that Cain be fired for violating more than a dozen division
policies related to the affair. Brown is expected to decide Cain’s fate next week.

Cain admitted sending the woman pictures of his genitals while on duty and that they had oral
sex while on city property. He said they did not have sex inside Station 17 on the Hilltop or
during the many times he let her ride on fire equipment during emergency runs. The woman told
investigators that they did have sex at the station.

Birkhimer was transferred from Station 17 more than a year ago after he and Firefighter Katelyn
Neil admitted they put chicken underneath the seat of Cain’s car. The chicken was there for weeks
and rotted. Neil was also transferred to another station.

That happened before Cain’s co-workers became aware of his affair.

Firefighters told investigators the chicken was meant as a message not to snitch about things
that happened at the station. One firefighter said many at the station believed that Neil and
Birkhimer were having an affair.

Neil and Birkhimer told investigators the rotting chicken was an innocent prank. They also told
investigators they did not have an affair. Neil and Birkhimer have declined to comment.

Firefighters implicated two other high-ranking officers in the coverup, but no internal charges
have been filed against them.